The personality basis of justice: The five-factor model as an integrative model of personality and procedural fairness effects on cooperation

Building upon the self-based model of cooperation (De Cremer & Tyler, [2005]), the present study investigates the relationship between the five-factor model (FFM) and cooperation. Study 1 (N = 56), an experiment conducted in the laboratory, and Study 2 (N = 116), a field study conducted in an organisational context, yielded a moderator effect between neuroticism and procedural fairness in explaining cooperation. Study 3 (N = 177) showed that this moderator effect was mediated by the self-uncertainty and relational variables proposed by the self-based model of cooperation. It is concluded that the FFM is useful in explaining cooperation and contributes to a better understanding of (procedural) fairness effects. Moreover, the necessity to build integrative, multi-level models that combine core and surface aspects of personality to explain the effects of fairness on cooperation is elaborated upon.